Sunday, February 5, 2012

Hi, my name is Stephanie Pankewich.I am the very proud mother to 3 amazing
children, Emerald, age 6, Calvin, age 5, and Zachary, age 3.Today is a special day in our house because it
is the 3 year “homecoming” anniversary for bringing our youngest, Zachary, home
from the NICU.

Our first 2 children are adopted, and we didn’t get to
experience their actual birth and first few days and weeks of their lives.But they are healthy and thriving little
munchkins, and I now realize that I took their good health for granted.

We were completely shocked and astounded when we discovered
we were finally pregnant, after 9 years of being unable to conceive.We chose not to find out the gender of the baby
because we really didn’t care as long as he/she was healthy.My birthday present was to go to our 20 week
sonogram.I walked into the appointment
excited, and didn’t expect to walk out of the appointment terrified, scared,
and wondering what to expect for our future.

During the routine sonogram, they discovered that our baby
had a 2 vessel umbilical cord.As the
doctor was explaining it, he threw out words, information, statistics, and much
more.There was mention of severe kidney
issues, problems with his brain, damage to the chambers of his heart, increased
chance of Spina Bifida and Downs Syndrome, and so much more that my ears began
to tune him out.I remember him going
into detail about the good chance of a growth restriction which could lead to an
early birth, or having a preemie.To be
honest, though, with all the other major problems possible with multiple vital
organs, prematurity sounded like a breeze.At the time, my naive mind told me that prematurity just meant that your baby spent a few extra weeks in the hospital,
and they weren’t supposed to be at home with you yet anyway.Wow, did I have a lot to learn!The first person I called to share about our
sonogram referred me to the March of Dimes website, in order to learn more
information about his single umbilical artery.What a lifesaver!The information
on the March of Dimes website was very beneficial in calming my nerves about
the medical terms that the doctor had thrown at me.Obviously, money raised by the March of Dimes
goes toward funding this educational site which arms mothers with more
knowledge about their potentially scary situation.

Our doctor monitored the pregnancy closely, and everything looked
pretty good until my water broke in the middle of the night at 31 weeks………. At
3:00 in the morning I made 2 phone calls.The 1st was to my doctor, whose on-call nurse said I should
go into the hospital to have it checked out.The 2nd phone call was to my best friend, a NICU nurse.She was so calm, so awesome.She answered the phone in the middle of sleep
and immediately calmed me, told me to get it checked out, and that everything
would be fine.She told me later that
after she hung up she cried and began to say some prayers for me because she
didn’t want us to have to go through this—she had seen countless NICU stories
ending in heartbreak.

At the hospital the nurses pulled me back to evaluate me, and
were fairly calm and casual.I assumed
they were thinking that my water hadn’t actually broken.After monitoring and checking me out, the
attitude changed, things jumped into fast mode.They pumped me full of magnesium, got the Perinatologist there to
monitor the baby, gave me the first steroid shot to hopefully help develop
those preemie lungs, and hoped that labor would stop.A few hours later they casually came in at
12:18 to suggest that we might
have to take the baby pretty soon, as if I had a choice.Our baby was born at 12:32.We didn’t hear him cry, we didn’t get to see
him, we didn’t get to hold him and cuddle with him.I do
remember that the nurse came over and said, “do you want to know what you had?”It is an incredibly weird moment……..every
parent in the world is overwhelmed the second they find out if they are having a
son or daughter.That moment lives within
their hearts forever.For me, at that
moment, laying exposed, literally my insides being shoved back within me,
feeling faint, scared for my newborn child………it didn’t matter what “parts” he
had.I didn’t feel happy or sad, excited
or nervous at the fact that I had just delivered a son.It wasn’t at all about him being a boy.I hadn’t heard him cry, I hadn’t seen if he
had any color.I didn’t know if he’d
live or not.That was what mattered!!

Zachary spent the next 6 weeks slowly and steadily getting
better in the NICU.He received 3 doses
of Surfactant within the first hours of his life.The Surfactant, thanks to research funded by
the March of Dimes, helped him come off the vent so much sooner, and helped him
come home without assisted breathing.I
remember being there when Zachary got his heel pricked to help determine if he
had any genetic disorders, another credit to the March of Dimes.I didn’t get to hold Zac for the first 36
hours, and I still feel like I’m making up for that today!

3 years ago today we were finally able to walk out of the
doors to the NICU with Zachary in our arms.We took him home and I cried seeing all my children under one roof
together.

This is where I think most people think the story ends for
the world of preemies.

The story didn’t end there.Over the first year of his life, Zachary had 65 visits with a medical
professional.His core muscles were
weakened because he didn’t get to fight for space inside of me, pushing,
kicking, forcing room for his expanding body.He had one major surgery, a detailed MRI to determine if he had a spinal
problem, visits with a neurosurgeon, urologists, physical therapists,
dieticians, ENT, and so many more.In
the 3 years he’s been home, Zachary has had 3 surgeries, been physical delayed,
placed in a developmental preschool to help him with those weak core muscles,
didn’t walk until he was 23 months, and obviously required some special
attention.The best part of all, though,
is that he has had the opportunity to fill our lives with smiles and
love!!That day 3 years ago didn’t end
our prematurity story, because those medical issues still remain, and my son is
still behind.Our story of prematurity
didn’t end there because I haven’t clearly expressed what an impact it had on
my other two children.They endured countless hours lost to mom and dad
traveling to the hospital for the 6 weeks of his NICU stay and the countless
hours devoted to further appointments.Zachary’s
being a preemie was not just about those 6 weeks in the hospital, but about the
impact it has had on our entire family each and every day since this day, 3
years ago.

But those familiar with the world of prematurity can
appreciate that I feel fortunate that our situation wasn’t THAT bad.Our son was born at 31 weeks and weighed 3
pounds 14 ounces, he wasn’t a micro preemie.I feel fortunate because our
story is NOTHING compared to so many others.Our son did walk, even if wasn’t until 23 months.Our son does talk.He did finally learn to eat.He is able to hug us, and tell us he loves
us.He plays with his siblings, and he
will be with us for a lifetime.So many
other NICU families don’t have that chance because they don’t even get to bring
their baby home.

All I can say is thank you.I know that those 2 words aren’t enough.However, without supporters like yourself, my precious munchkins might
not be the energetic, talkative, precious pieces of joy that help make our
family complete!

March for Babies 2012

Please support our March for Babies

Family

About Me

Life is a journey--and what a fun journey we are taking together, enjoying each moment as it comes!! We were married in 1998. After many years of praying for the wonderful sounds of giggles and pitter-patters, God has answered our prayers!! We were blessed with 3 precious munchkins, Emerald, Calvin, and Zachary! We look forward to watching them grow--just not too fast!